Success, but not without a few glitches

Although yesterday's long run didn't go nearly as badly as it did last week, it didn't happen without a few snags. 

I planned to do13 miles, since it's two weeks away from my first half marathon of the fall (I'm going out to Vegas to do another one in December).  I'll be in Chicago all this week to manage our exhibit at a work trade show, and although I hope to do some running while I'm there, I think after 4 full days of being on my feet all day, a long run may be a little too much to attempt. So, unless I magically wake up next weekend with someone else's legs, this is the last long run before race day.

I started off Friday night by picking up a quality high-carb meal at Fazoli's for my mom and I to eat while watching the Reds playoff game.  My go-to meal before long runs always consists of a small salad (usually Caesar) and lots of bread and pasta with tomato sauce.  In any other circumstance, I opt for whole-grain breads and pastas, but they don't digest nearly as well as the white stuff... and nothing is more important than good digestion before a long run!



Ah, success! Finally.



With a good dinner in my belly, I got some sleep and woke up a little before 8 a.m. (which, to me, is classified as "sleeping in").  I made my go-to pre-run breakfast:  peanut butter on an Arnold thin.  The toasting of the bread proved to be my first unforeseen stumbling block of the day.  I got distracted with my computer while the bread was in the toaster, and when the smell of burning toast wafted through the living room, I jumped up to try to save it.  Unfortunately, it was too late for the crusty black disc to be salvaged, so I started over.  In my head, I told myself to be more attentive the second time around, but I apparently didn't listen to me, and there I sat in front of my computer while another piece burnt to a crisp.  "Okay, seriously," I said to myself on the third try, "Someone with a master's degree should be able to cook a piece of toast."  I got the bright idea to set the toaster to a much lower setting (thanks, higher education!), and instead of trying to multi-task this time, I just stood there in front of the toaster with a dumb look on my face while it cooked.  I finally acheived toast success on the third go at it, and after gobbling my breakfast down with some Gatorade, I was off to the Loveland Bike Trail for 13 miles of running fun.

My map indicated that the Loveland Running Spot (where I intended to park my car) was at the 42-mile marker of the trail, and the trail crossed Wards Corner Road at 48.5 miles.  So, if I ran from Loveland to Wards Corner and back, that would make an even 13 miles. I stashed my Gatorade and a Gu at the halfway point on Wards Corner, and then headed up to Loveland to my starting point. 

I wore a sleeveless shirt and three-quarter length pants, and while I was a little chilly to start (about 55 degrees), as the morning and my body got warmer, I felt comfortable.  I was keeping a great pace and feeling good, but somewhere between 5 and 6 miles, my Garmin watch decided that it was all tuckered out.  I looked down and there was nothing on the screen...just completely dead.  The screen has been displaying LOW BAT for a while now, but I thought it was bluffing.  Guess not.

I got to the turnaround sooner than I had anticipated because the map was wrong and Wards Corner Road actually crossed the trail at 47.5 miles, not 48.5.  While I could have kept going toward the 48.5 mile marker, I decided I would just tack on the extra 2 miles at the end.  That way, I could bail out two miles early if I needed to.

At about 9 miles in, a lady came up to me and said there was a loose dog up ahead, and she was afraid to run past it alone.  I am a huge dog lover, so I wasn't worried and offered to run past the dog with her.  I was even less worried when I actually saw the dog.  I was thinking that she was worried about running past a dog like this:

When, in actuality, the dog looked a whole lot more like this:

I said to my new running buddy as we passed the pooch, "I don't think Lassie's going to hurt us."  We easily ran past the dog, and chatted for the last few miles back to The Running Spot parking lot.  I still felt strong as I passed my car, so I left my new pal Catherine to press on ahead and tack on the last two miles. They were difficult, but I made it. And now I feel more than ready to attack that half marathon in two weeks.  Except, there was just one more little glitch...

After taking my inserts out last week, I thought my new Brooks Adrenalines would feel a lot better, but after 13 miles tmy feet were hurting quite a bit. So, while I was there in their parking lot, I popped into the Loveland Running Spot to discuss my shoe issues with whoever might be willing to listen.  This may be a lot to ask, but I really want to feel like I'm running on soft, pillowy clouds.  While the shoe guy at the Newport Spot was helpful when he fitted me a few weeks ago, my new shoe guru Scott at the Loveland Spot took so much more time with me and really analyzed my feet and listened to me.  We ended up identifying a Saucony shoe that might be a much better fit for me.  I'm going to pick up my new kicks this afternoon... happy clouds, here I come!